A plurality of servers is connected, and processing is performed cooperatively to provide a service. The information processing system for each server constituting such a system is not necessarily limited to processing performed using common specifications. In order to facilitate integration in an information processing system, a mechanism has been provided to accommodate specification differences in the information processing systems of servers such as Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI).
Integration middleware such as ESB and EAI implements features such as message format conversion, protocol conversion, and routing processing. Through the intermediation of such middleware, connections can be established and cooperative operations performed without being aware of the fact, even when each information processing system uses different message formats and protocols.
When a plurality of information processing systems is attempting to work together, each system may not only have a different message format and protocol, but also a different processing method (communication method). For example, one information processing system may use a polling method, and another information processing system may use a callback method. Because these two systems cannot exchange information, the differences between the processing methods have to be resolved.
However, changing system configurations to accommodate the processing method of another information processing system in order to cooperate with that system is costly. Because logic for converting processing methods is installed in addition to the logic related to the operation of the original system, the processing performed by the system itself becomes more complicated.
When an information processing system is developed, compatibility with other information processing systems has to be taken into account, and the system has to be designed to accommodate other processing methods. This increases the amount of time required for system development, and reduces development efficiency.